USCIS Reaches FY 2011 H-1B Cap

VIA USCIS.GOV

WASHINGTON,
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it has
received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap for
fiscal year (FY) 2011. USCIS is notifying the public that yesterday, Jan.
26, 2011, is the final receipt date for new H-1B specialty occupation petitions
requesting an employment start date in FY2011.

The final receipt date is the date on which USCIS determines that it has
received enough cap-subject petitions to reach the limit of 65,000.
Properly filed cases will be considered received on the date that USCIS
physically receives the petition; not the date that the petition was
postmarked. USCIS will reject cap-subject petitions for new H-1B
specialty occupation workers seeking an employment start date in FY2011 that
arrive after Jan. 26, 2011.

USCIS will apply a computer-generated random selection process to all petitions
that are subject to the cap and were received on Jan. 26, 2011. USCIS will use
this process to select petitions needed to meet the cap. USCIS will
reject all remaining cap-subject petitions not randomly selected and will
return the accompanying fee.

On Dec. 22, 2010, USCIS had also received more than 20,000 H-1B petitions filed
on behalf of persons exempt from the cap under the advanced degree exemption.
USCIS will continue to accept and process

petitions that are otherwise exempt from the cap. Pursuant to the Immigration
and Nationality Act, petitions filed on behalf of current H-1B workers who have
been counted previously against the cap will not be counted towards the
congressionally-mandated FY2011 H-1B cap. Accordingly, USCIS will continue to
accept and process petitions filed to:

extend the amount of time a current H-1B worker may remain in the
U.S.;

change the terms of employment for current H-1B workers;

allow current H-1B workers to change employers; and

allow current H-1B workers to work concurrently in a second H-1B position.

U.S. businesses use the H-1B program to employ foreign workers in specialty
occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in specialized
fields such as scientists, engineers, or computer programmers.

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